When First Comes Second

Yesterday was my 2-year anniversary with my love.  I still remember our wedding day like yesterday and it's still a day/night I will cherish for the rest of my life.  This is our first anniversary together since last year he was in the sandbox aka Afghanistan.  Let me tell you, he did great last year with not being here and all but yesterday...he topped it off times a thousand!

My husband surprised me in the morning with a perfume I've been eying for a while...Rhianna's new Reb'l Fleur...the biggest bottle they had lol.  I think it means rebel flower in French maybe?  Who knows but it smells amazing.  Next we went to church like normal and then headed to Carrabas Italian Restaurant with family and friends.  Before we even ordered our food, my husband secretly asked the waitress to bring us a dessert with a number 2 on it.  Well that caught me off guard but nothing to what came next.  Before we could even take a bite out of that delicious cake, he pulled out a Zales box and inside?  A gold ring with a huge aquamarine stone in the middle and diamonds on the sides.  I couldn't believe my eyes, he had gone all out!  He said he chose the aquamarine stone because its the birthstone of March and that's when our anniversary is.  Yeah I was choked up in tears in front of friends and family lol.  But it was great I couldn't imagine a better "first"-second anniversary.  =)

His surprise is coming soon!  Can't wait to give it to him!  =)

At Carrabas

My anniversary ring (left)

Road trips, Dream houses, and Reality

Hello again!  Soooo...a lot has been going on since my last post.  The hubby arrived last week and what did we do to rekindle the flame?  Pack and head out on a 10 hour drive to NC.  Now that's what I call bonding lol.  Well I slept for most of the way since I had already worked a 10 hour work day earlier.  He was a good sport about it.  =)

We got to sit down with our mortgage lady who translated everything into "English" for us.  She is such a sweet lady.  We had a few bumps with the VA and I almost blew a gasket.  The VA screwed up a bunch of stuff and it looked like my husband had gotten discharged from the military back in 2006 when really he was just transferring from Reserve to Active.  Yeah that really pissed me off.  How can you sign off to send him to Afghanistan TWICE totally 27 months and not even get his freaking VA loan eligibility papers straight.  My husband wouldn't let me talk to the VA people in fear that I was gonna bite their heads off which I can't promise would not have happened lol.  Anywho, my husband got that straightened out this week which makes us one step closer to closing on the 25th. 

The next thing we did was check out post and OMG...Fort Bragg is huuuuge.  By far the largest post I've ever been on.  We found the Soldier Support Center by pure luck.  Then we tried finding the PX to get to the gas station and we ended up on the other side of post by the shooting ranges LOL.  Bragg pretty much has a highway type road through the middle.  It is big but I'm ready for the new adventures.  =)

Ok so the big finale to our trip.  Seeing our new home in person!  I had to shut my eyes and not open them until I was standing right in front of our house (my realtor's idea and of course the husband made me lol)  I can't explain that feeling I got when I opened my eyes.  Standing in front of the maroon painted door...on the covered front porch...and then finally turning the knob to peek inside and see the rooms and walls I will be coming home to everyday.  I could already picture where furniture was going to be placed and pictures being hung on each wall.  It is really a dream come true.  A brand new home where my husband and I will begin the real first steps of marriage together.  I'm sooo excited for what's next for us.

So fast forward to today:  Today I submitted my resignation letter.  I know some people just write an email with the day they are leaving but I guess I get that old school trait from my dad.  It is really starting to kick in that I'm leaving this place.  I've made good friendships and invested a lot of time and experience in this company in such a short time and now I have to leave.  I mean don't get me wrong choosing between being with my husband and staying for my job...of course my husband wins...but it still sucks to leave such a great company.  I know I will be missed by them...but I feel I will miss them way more than they can imagine.  It's hard leaving jobs when you make good friends.  When I had to leave my last credit union, it hurt to know I wasn't going to be able to see certain people anymore like I used to.  Of course I will keep in touch...the same that I do with my old friends from the credit union...but parting is still going to hurt all the same.  The reality of Army spouse life I guess.

Well I've written a few chapters here!  Be safe everyone and have a great weekend!  And keep Japan in your prayers.  <3

Me in our master bathroom

Bis Spater Deustchland!

There is so much to do this week I can hardly think straight!  The hubs is officially leaving Germany tonight!  I can't even express the excitement I feel.  After three years of long distance (two of them married) we are finally on our journey to actually starting the US we've been wanting.  I will miss Germany.  Being able to fly to Spain to see the in-laws on a whim.  Doners, Kinder chocolates, and the way cool supermarkets. The snow dusted on such beautiful scenery!  But I won't miss all the time it kept me away from my love.  So Aufweidersehen Germany!  Hello Bragg hooah!

So what's on the schedule?  Picking up my lover tomorrow from the airport so I will be MIA just so you know lol.  Yesterday I prepared a pork shoulder to roast tomorrow.  It will have been marinating for two whole days.  It's one of my husband's favorite dishes.  In Spanish, the dish is called "pernil". We carve the skin off and shave off as much fat as possible to make chicharon which is really crispy pig skin.  Sooo yummy but bad for your cholesterol lol.  I plan on making rice (arroz con gandules) to go with the pork and some steamed vegetables (gotta have something healthy!).  Is your mouth watering yet? lol  My grandmother started teaching me how to cook when I was 12 and I was always helping my mom in the kitchen.  I love cooking and just being in the kitchen period. 

Anywho, Wednesday night we are heading off to North Carolina to check out our lovely home.  It totally sucks that I can't just walk by it everyday and peek in the windows and picture our furniture in there.  It's like a long distance relationship with a building structure.  I'm so done with long distance! LOL But soon enough...we have less than a month until we are officially at Bragg.  Thursday we have a meeting with the mortgage people.  Let me tell you...I received a packet with all the paperwork I need to sign and OMG.  I don't even know where to start!  And that's not even the closing papers!  So Thursday we will have the mortgage people translate this stuff into "English" for us.  Friday is fridge shopping!  I'm hoping we get everything cleared away by Friday afternoon.  It would be nice to spend a day at Myrtle Beach on our way back.  Definitely looking forward to a great week.

Oh and for my praying voice out there.  My great-uncle is having an extensive surgery on Wednesday.  Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

My pernil for tomorrow (the skin is in the little bag)

March Madness and what? Sneakers???

So I have this really really bad illness that at times I really can't control.  As a matter of fact, my husband and I both suffer from this which probably makes us so compatible.  It's called Sneakeritis...ever heard of it?  LOL  It's been some busy months in the Sneaker World.  Sooo many hot releases have dropped and it can be overwhelming to keep up with lol.  I copped the Flint 13s for myself and the husband for Christmas.  And then I got the him Cool Grey 11s as an early V-day gift.  Being that my husband is never satisfied with just one pair though.......he doubled up on both of those as soon as he got back to Germany.  Such a punk lol.  He is THAT guy...yeah the one to rock one to stock type of guy.  So I guess you could say his Sneakeritis is a tad bit worse than mine lol. (In case you guys are confused on what these numbers mean lol here a link to the Jordans library.)  I'm pretty stoked because my love just got me the cool greys too.  I really didn't care for them at first but when his came in, I think a shed a tear or two because they are freaking gorgeous lol.  So I'm glad he read my mind and bought them for me.  I'm looking at some Dr. Feel Good Nike SBs which I might get if I can work a good deal with the seller.  I wear a size 4.5 in boys so finding those in my size is pretty much impossible to come by so it will be a good investment.  I bet some of you are saying "This girl is crazy....a shoe addiction???"  You are probably right but all I can say is that it's a swagger that just can't be messed with haha. 

Well I have 4 days left until my love is home for good (well as long as the Army lets me keep him before next deployment).  4 more weeks of work...oh and I close on my house in 3 weeks! 23 days until our wedding anniversary.  Soooo many things to look forward to this month!   March is our month.  <3

Our House!